Thursday, November 27, 2008

Tell your kids to collect 7 rocks. Don't tell them why. Just tell them that they should be bigger than 2 inches and different sizes and shapess. When they come back, have them stack the rocks as high as possible. As always, send your pics.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

I am on vacation, so I apologize but I may be slow to post this week. Don't worry though, I'll post everyone's submissions sooner or later. You all have done a wonderful job! And, if you have time, I have added some pics to the apple challenge from a homeschool co-op. Go back and check them out.

For starters, Beth made an absolutely awesome hat!

Selena made a marvelous hat!

Bennet made another awesome pirate hat!

Jack made a cool cowboy hat!

Jesse made a terrific top hat!

Josephine made a cool cone hat!

Steven made a fabulous peter pan hat!

Alessia, Tyler, and Nik made some heavenly hats!

Moomintroll made a fantastic fez!

Snufkin made a beau chapeau.

Explore Academy and family made hats on Thanksgiving day. Gram and Papa even made some!

Tolly, Levi, and Cal also joined in the fun and made some spectacular hats. You can read more about them here.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Pretend you are going out to dinner at Grandma's (for Thanksgiving if you celebrate it or for a special occasion if you don't). Grandma is old fashioned and you must wear a hat to Grandma's!

Put 3 sheets of newspaper on the table. And, a large roll of masking tape. Tell your students (and guests if you decide to try this ON Thankskgiving) to make a hat. Model it and photograph it. Send us your pictures.

I'll begin posting solutions on Monday and will take them indefinitely. I encourage folks to get the solutions in within 9 days so that others can see them but I will always post them. If you find yourself with extra time and you decide to go back to do an old challenge, please send in the pics. And, if you try it with a school group, homeschool co-op, church group, etc. please send those pics too! The more the merrier and we can all learn from each other!

Monday, November 17, 2008

I have posted another ongoing challenge in the right hand column. Also, to facilitate participation from the other side of the globe, I am going to start posting challenges on Thursday evenings. Deadline for returning the weekly solutions will still be Saturdays at noon. There will be a little overlap but I think it'll work! Look for solutions to begin posting on Mondays.

Jaylene did a great job with her windmill. She was able to look at another that she had made and figure out how to use the new materials. Great job Jaylene!

K also did an awesome job! Here's a picture and a video. FAN-tastic work K.

Snufkin made her windmill from one piece of paper by cutting, folding, holding the sails with paper clips and then sewing a little button in the center. You should be proud of your design! Excellent job!

Moomintroll began his by making two circles and some little oval sails slotted together using paper clips. These were stitched into place between the two circles. Moomintroll straightened a paper clip, pushed the paper clip through the button, bent it ninety degrees, wrapped paper around the tip of the paper-clip before wedging the end into the straw. Again, an awesome design strategy! Fantastic work! Check out his video by clicking here.

Tyler, Alessia, and Nik had another creative design! Their's looks like a good old-fashioned windmill! Great job guys! You should be proud.

Jackson joined us this week for the first time and did an amazing job with his windmill! Check it out!

Cal and Levi worked very hard to create some wild windmills! You guys should be proud -- you did a great job!

Natalie sent in another wild windmill! Yet another design! Great thinking!

Alex and Charlie got a bit of help from their Dad this week! Both windmills turned when they blew on them but their mom says that the windmill that Dad helped with worked better. Awesome job guys!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

We've gotten some great solutions already! But, judging on the number submitted so far, I am guessing that some of you think this is a hard one. One suggestion if you are struggling is to think about what you can do with paper and what some of the strongest structures are. Maybe you just don't get as much junk mail as we do!

First, Snufkin and Moomintroll sent their solutions in. Snufkin used a very very thick Argos catalogue. Ambitiously choosing the thickest tome, she made double triangular folded paper 'columns' tied with more catalogue paper. She used the catalogue as a base for those crucial extra inches, and then used the thicker catalogue cover papers as 'floors' on which to place her next layer of columns.Superb work!

Moomintroll hit upon the idea of making 'bricks' out of origami boxes. He folded each piece of paper diagonally and then trimed the extra rectangle off using the catalogue itself instead of a ruler to tear against.When he had a perfect square, he could make his origami boxes. The Tesco catalogue has a thousand pages. Moomintroll made the boxes at a rate of ten a day and so estimated that he could make a really massive structure in about one hundred days! This one with fourteen boxes is ten and 1/4 inches high. Fantasic job!

Taylor made his tower from a thin Craftsman Tools catalog/flyer that came in the mail. It was 17” tall, 25” long, and 23” deep. Awesome job Taylor!

Jacob participated for the first time this week. He created this cool tower!

Shamus also joined us for the first time. His tower is also very cool!

Susie created another fantabulous tower.

Ellen created a tremendous tower.

Laura built a fantastic tower. Thanks for joining us!

Lacy and Jordan joined us this week for the first time and they did a great job! Both made structures out of crumpled balls of paper. Joanna and her mom made a structure out of twisted pages layered criss-cross. Congratulations on a job well done!

Here is Lucas, age 9, with his cone constructed tower It's awesome!

H and T created several cool towers. Some were wider, others taller. Great job girls!

The first tower by Josh and Jacob was crumpled pages put in a pile....didn't hold very well. SOOOOO.......Mungi, their grandma told them that, when she was young, her family didn't have money for staples so they tore little "flaps" to hold paper together. She showed them how to make the blocks and then use the "flaps" to hold them together. Then they discovered that since we had so much crumpled paper we could put a ball of paper in the block and it would be sturdier. Awesome job guys!

Andy and Will did an awesome job this week! You guys used some cool construction techniques! Great work.

Selena built Stripey's tower, Stripey's small tower and Stripey's Flower Tower. Very very cool Stripey towers!

Instead of building a tower this week, Alex and Charlie went back and completed the week 9 challenge. Go back and check out their apple sculptures. They did a great job! Also, I just added Selena'a xylophone to the Halloween challenge. It's awesome!

Monkeet made an awesome tower from boxes and columns. He had paper boxes like bricks at first and then realized he could get columns to actually stay in place if they were resting inside the paper box instead of just on top of the box. Great job!

About Me

I believe in learning through play. Several years ago, I founded Charlotte Community School for Girls and believe that we prepare children for the 21st century by challenging them to think outside of the box. Challenge your children to play, create, design, imagine, and explore. Allow them to learn through experimentation.

If learning is fun and experimental, children will always be engaged. Let them be the guide!

A Great 10 minute video on Civil Engineering

Hints for Parents/Teachers

I would encourage you to let the children solve the problems offered here on their own. In the process of experimenting and failing, they will learn. If they are getting extremely frustrated, I would suggest that you ask questions to help direct their solution. Questions about how different materials can be used (what can you do with a toothpick? a nail? a straw?) are sometimes helpful. It is also helpful to make kids think about why something isn't working (why don't the wheels roll?, how is a car made?, how does a bike work?, what is making the bridge collapse?).

Sometimes, it is better to walk away from a project and come back later. Tell them that this is what engineers and scientists do.

Most of all, encourage your students to think outside of the box. If the project says use tape and they want to use duct tape, good for them. If the project says use toothpicks and they want to break the toothpicks, good for them. If they chew the gum and then use it, great!

When they do something that stands out as different and creative, praise them! They will begin to think more and more creatively as time goes on!

And, don't ever let them see other people's solutions before they start as it completely stifles individual creativity.

If you want more ideas, please don't hesitate to drop me an email at kidthinkers@gmail.com. I'll do my best to help.

Follow Me on Twitter

I am Honored

"This award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his/her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary and personal values every day.”

So now the rules state that I should share the award with fifteen other WONDERFUL BLOGGERS out there! So, here's my list of 15 of SOME of my favorite blogs that don't think I've recognized before - some I've been reading for years and others I've only found recently. Hopefully, you will visit some of these blogs and you might find some new favorites, too!

School Districts That Promote Our Site

We are pleased that a Rochester New York School District (Spencerport Central School District - Taylor Elementary School) and a Florida School District (Florida Diagnostic and Learning Resources System) are promoting some creative thinking by including links to our site. Clickschooling isn't really a district per se but it is relied upon heavily by homeschoolers. They have recently featured this site as well. And, if you are teacher looking for lesson plans, we are happy to report that we are also featured onthe lesson plan page of Craft Gossip.Com.

I Got An Award

Gerky at Homefront Lines gave me an award!I am honored!Many thanks!There are rules...

*List 6 things that make you happy.

*Pass the award on to 5 other bloggers

*Link back to the person who gave you the award.

*Link to the people you are passing it on to and leave them a comment to let them know.

Here it goes...6 things that make me happy:

Water -- fresh, ocean, pool. I love the sound of water -- raindrops, waterfalls, waves lapping at the sandy beach, splashes in the pool. I love the feel of water. I love the peacefulness of water.

Reading -- I have read 4 books in the past week and have enjoyed every one of them.

Creating -- anything. I love to paint and write. I love to teach and plan.

Gluten free brownies. I recently discovered that I cannot have any gluten and I crave it. Brownies from Cherrybrook Kitchen are the only gluten free dessert that tastes like the real thing.

Doing nice things for people I don't really know -- like teaching swimming lessons to a very shy college student who is very afraid of the water.

Of course I read all of the blogs linked here (and love them:))but if I have to tag only five, I'll choose the ones that are most relevant to our home education. The five blogs I tag:

1. Toad Haven -- I have appreciated the gluten free diet links but have also enjoyed the rest of the site.2. Lapaz Home Learning -- I like the thoughtfulness of this blog and the many many ideas.3. Socks and Books -- I like the pictures and information about places that are faraway from our home but very very interesting.4. Julie K in Taiwan -- Again it is fun to learn from pictures from a faraway place.5. 52 books in 52 weeks -- We love to read and this has been a great resource for us!

Ongoing Challenges

The following challenges are ongoing. You may participate at any time. Just send us your pics and results and we'll post them! These challenges will take more time than those on the left but they are a lot of fun!Ongoing Challenge One: Build a cardboard boat out of duct tape and cardboard. Take it out in a pool or lake and test it! Or, better yet, enter a cardboard boat contest.Ongoing Challenge Two: Build a car from pvc pipe and duct tape. Each vehicle must have 2-4 wheels. It must support a driver who will be pushed around a race track. Race it!Ongoing Challenge Three: Make an article of clothing out of plastic bags (you may use other materials as well, but plastic bags must be the primary material). Then, send us a picture of someone wearing it.Ongoing Challenge Four: Make a hayman out of sticks and hay (plus anything else you might need to hold it together). We borrowed this idea from Wayzley Academy . Ongoing Challenge Five: Get a pumpkin eight inches in diameter or larger (not a Cinderella pumpkin or a gourd). Without altering the inside of the pumpkin (no freezing, adding chemicals, etc.), develop a package for the pumpkin that will protect it when dropped from 20 feet to the ground. The pumpkin must free fall to the ground. No styrofoam peanuts or non-biodegradable packaging and no bungee cords. Bubble wrap is acceptable. No electrical sources are allowed. Test your protective structure and send us the pictures. Or, host a contest!Ongoing Challenge Six: Save all of your packaging materials during the Holidays and make a robot with packaging materials and glue (any kind). Send in your pics!Ongoing Challenge Seven: Build a marble rollercoaster that has at least one hill and one loop. Primary construction material should be wood, (popsicle sticks, balsa wood), string, twine, wire, plastic straws, toothpicks, wood shavings, dowels, cardboard, constructionpaper, glue gun, PVC piping, orr rubber tubing. Don't forget to send pictures. To learn more about roller coasters, check out this site.Ongoing Challenge Eight: Build a solar oven using a pizza box, black paper and aluminum foil. Try to bake cookies in the sun. Let us know your results. Ongoing Challenge Nine: Create some unexpected art. Read about unlikely pairs here. And, there create your own unlikely pair.

Another Award!

Many thanks to Rosina at Rosy-Posy who nominated me for the Lemonade Award.

Thanks so much for nominating me!

Here are the rules:1. Put the logo on your blog or post.2. Nominate at least 5 - 10 blogs that show great Gratitude and/or Attitude.3. Be sure to list and link your nominees within your post.4. Let them know they have received this award by leaving a comment on their blog.5. Link to the post where you were nominated

This time I picked other weekly challenges for which we are grateful. Check them out: